Rubenerd Blog

Alaskan senate election race news

2008.11.14 – 14.31 UTC+08 (Singapore Time)

Alaskan senator Ted Stevens

In light of Barack Obama’s historic presidential election victory, it’s easy to forget other elections have been going on around the world recently, such as in New Zealand. Given my interest in Whole Wheat Radio, the fact I bumped into a couple of people from Alaska in one particular coffee shop in Singapore quite regularly, the fact my dad is interested in Canada next door (thought I’d throw that in), and the fact our neighbours across the street in our rented house in Australia are from Alaska, I’ve also been watching the Alaskan State Senate elections. Whew, that was a long sentence.

I don’t pretend to know the details and inner workings of Alaskan politics, but I know enough about incumbent (or should I say "incompetent") Ted Stevens to know that if he was reelected it would be a crying shame. According to Wikipedia, if he did win he would also be the first convicted felon to be elected to the United States senate.

According to Republican pollster David Dittman in a Huffington Post article (can we trust him?), it looks as though Democrat Mark Begich will take the senate seat:

Alaska-based GOP pollster David Dittman, who worked for Sen. Ted Stevens during this year’s primary race, believes Democratic challenger Mark Begich is all but certain to expand his current razor-thin lead and snatch the seat.

"I don’t think Stevens can come back," Dittman said, noting that he thinks the remaining trove of uncounted ballots will help Begich “increase his lead."

After trying to find other sources of information on this from sites ranging from Swamp Politics to Mark Crispin Miller’s News From Underground, they all seem to be pointing to one Alaskan Daily News article:

The bridge to nowhere

Begich takes lead in latest vote count
SENATE RACE: Anchorage mayor swings from 3,000-vote deficit to 814-vote advantage.
By SEAN COCKERHAM and KYLE HOPKINS
(08/11/13 01:20:41)

Mark Begich made a dramatic comeback Wednesday to overtake 40-year incumbent Ted Stevens for the lead in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race.

Begich, who was losing after election night, now leads Stevens by 814 votes — 132,196 to 131,382 — with the state still to count roughly 40,000 more ballots over the next week.

The state Division of Elections tallied about 60,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots from around the state on Wednesday. The ballots broke heavily in the Democrat’s favor, erasing the 3,000-vote lead the Republican Stevens held after election night Nov. 4.

Here’s hoping Alaska makes the right choice, just as the United States on the whole did last week. I’m being pessimistic in advance again, but I’d love to have that overturned.

Categories: news, politics
Tags: alaska, elections, united states

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Sarah Palin, Russia, parliament, stupidity

2008.10.02 – 14.20 UTC+08 (Singapore Time)

Sarah Palin seen here with John McCain opening Noah’s Ark. Photo by Rachael Dickson on Wikipedia

It’s another example of thinking a situation or person couldn’t possibly get any worse, then realising that your error in judgement was bigger than a pair of pigs with lipstick. In the States this is old news already but I only just picked it up: the Vice Presidential nominee for the Republicans Sarah Palin claims the fact she can see Russia from her home in Alaska somehow gives her diplomatic experience with them.

From the Huffington Post’s transcript of a televised interview:

COURIC: You’ve cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land– boundary that we have with– Canada. It– it’s funny that a comment like that was– kind of made to– cari– I don’t know, you know? Reporters–

COURIC: Mock?

PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.

COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.

PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our– our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia–

COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We– we do– it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is– from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to– to our state.

I’m so glad I live in a country like Australia that has a Parliamentary system of government, meaning we vote for every single person we want in office. The Prime Minister can’t appoint anyone he or she wants, only people who hold seats in electorates, and even if his or her party wins, if they lose their electoral seat they can’t be PM. This also means technically we can’t know for sure who the deputy PM will be until after elections and electorate votes are tallied.

It also means that we are completely immune from corruption and head smacking acts of stupidity in our elected officials.

Categories: funny, politics
Tags: alaska, russia, sarah palin, stupidity

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Ed Craver and Esther Golton make my Monday!

2008.03.24 – 08.56 UTC+08 (Singapore Time)

“It could feel as overwhelming as standing in a room with too many masterpieces”

On Monday morning at 07:01 here in Singapore I wasn’t tucked in bed asleep, I was plugged into the computer listening to Ed Craver reading some of his brilliant prose and works on Whole Wheat Radio!

Ed Craver and Esther Golton at the Wheat Palace in Talkeetna, Alaska, USA

I was expecting to type up a short review of Mr Craver’s readings shortly after hearing them, but as I sit here listening to how much Esther Golton would love to grow lots and lots of sweet corn, I’m absolutely, completely speechless. It’s as though anything I attempt to put into words here would be hopelessly insufficient, if that makes any sense at all. I’ve rewritten this entire post now well over a dozen times, and it still seems inadequate!

Mr Craver took us to the rich farming land in Alaska, to his Island with his livestock, even to a sticky situation he found himself in involving a gigantic boar and a certain sensitive operation! The imagery he conjured up with his brilliant grasp of language was intoxicating and transported me right to frigid Alaskan winters as I sat on my balcony on the seventh floor of our apartment block in hot, humid downtown Singapore.

Ed Craver and Esther Golton on the other side of the world on an early Monday morning

As a young man who grew up entirely in cities around Australia and Asia, Mr Craver’s stories of farm life and living out in one of the most isolated places on earth particularly touched me, and his wicked and witty sense of humour literally had my laughing out loud, much to the dismay of my sister trying to sleep in the room next door!

And to top it off, we had Esther singing Shadu during intermission… what’s the technical musical term I’m looking for again? Oh yeah… YAY!

I’m hoping Jimbob will upload this as an audio magazine so that if you couldn’t catch the performace you can listen later. Heck I want to be able to hear it again myself!

ASIDE: Corn corn! Sweet corn! I’d grow lots of corn!
Corn corn! Sweet corn! All I’d grow is corn!

So there ends my hopelessly inadequate review of Ed Craver Live at the Wheat Palace with Esther Golton. Thank you guys, you were brilliant and made a usually dull and depressing Monday morning into the high of my week! Cheers